The fight for diverse and conscious voices

Last time I said I would review the Bootie Blog Top 10 for February. Here's my review: it sucks. Skip it. Too much Gaga and Ke$ha who, as I said to MizA, bears approximately the same resemblance to good music as a K-Mart plastic tube with a lightbulb in it bears a resemblance to a real light saber. Even when they're nodding to The Kleptones they picked one of the worst bits of Uptime to link.

In replacement of which, I give you
http://www.kleptones.com/blog/2010/02/10/video-violence/
The first entry in The Kleptone's "Videotones project", an invitation to video mash-up artists to produce visual materials that go along with Uptime/Downtime. This piece by Instamatic renders out the "Welcome Back" mash that they built around Def Leppard's "Welcome To the Jungle".

http://djsteveboy.com/groovelectric.html
Also back in excellent form (finally) is DJ Steveboy with his latest stream titled "New Ground." He's moved up north to the SF Bay area and clearly the name is a tip of the hat to the new studio he has set up. The start is a bit slow, but it's got plenty of good funky stuff and the ending of the mix is some of his best work in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3stsDXki__U&feature=fvw
OK, I'm probably the only one here who doesn't watch the Grammys. So you've probably all seen and heard this performance already. But I hadn't. If I ever said anything bad about P!nk I take it all back. This piece combines great vocals with excellent costuming and fabulous staging. Yes, it's true she's not doing all that difficult a silks bit. But who the hell cares - she's doing it herself, and singing at the same time. Smokin'. Also, I could point a finger about half a hundred performers who should study that costume for pointers. H/T to heinleinfan for the link.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/02/simon-iddol-we-are-in-the-go-go-club.html
APC's Simon Iddol hasn't posted anything of his own in a while and I've missed his particular style. Here he's got Empire of the Sun's "We are the People" going up against Vybz Kartel's "Go-Go Club" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1YjnfU8xcc). Iddol has stripped out the reggae vocals of the latter but kept the dub clicks and bumps. It's a neat combination.

http://www.mashup-industries.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=36
Mashup Industries changed its site organization and along the way linked to a video for this track, which Clivester did back in 2007. The vid is OK, but the track is... haunting. You'd think it was a Beatles mash, and it sort of is, but some of the real chills come from Erik B and Rakim's contributions, and strategically chosen samples from Duran Duran's "Come Undone" (http://www.tsrocks.com/d/duran_duran_texts/come_undone.html)

MizA has suggested I tag these silly posts, which would make MY life easier but damned if I can find the time to go back and redo the last year, let alone all of it. Gah. (Not Gaga. SO! TIRED! OF! HER! Where was I?)

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/01/illegal-sunday-amoraboy-come-together.html
DJ Maggie Mash's previous entry was brilliant and brain-breaking. This one is also quite good. I don't hear a lot of Beatles mash-ups, and this one really sounds like Green Day just sat down to cover "Come Together" in their own style. I think Maggie captures that feel while still being very true to the original.

http://audioporncentral.com/2010/01/eric-peltier-dadada.html
Speaking of covers, I adore the old electro-pop "Da da da". It's still every bit as catchy today as it was back then. This cover video is a cute trick with iPhones by TinBoxTwo (http://www.tinboxtwo.com/). Watch for the guitar, particularly.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1006676/Jackie+Boyz+-++Stick+Up+
Like the original blogger, I have this tune stuck in my head. Jackie Boyz (http://www.myspace.com/officialjackieboyz) blend things from the pop side of hip-hop with some more traditional R&B stylings. It's very catchy and danceable.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1006622/The+xx-Shelter+%28Death+To+The+Throne+Remix%29
The last time I pointed to a cover of a The Xx tune I noted that they had some breathy and haunting vocals. That's still true, but this time Arizona-based DJ/remixer "Death to the Throne" (http://www.myspace.com/deathtothethrone) has paired the vocals with some nice house dance beats. It's a little on the bass/thuddy side in places but he does a good job of making sure that doesn't overwhelm the vocal feel.

http://massiveattack.com/
Massive Attack is a group I used to listen to on near-infinite repeat. Lately I've lost touch with what they're doing so I went over to their site to check it out since they've got a new EP just out. The page is very cluttered but if you scroll down a bit on the left side you can stream six tracks from them, including some very different remixes featuring some awesome guest artists.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1006120/The+Cure+-+Lovesong+Diplo+remix+
This one is purely and solely for my Babe and I'm not gonna 'splain that. If you want to read about the track, check out the original blogger at Indieshuffle: http://www.indieshuffle.com/?p=3321. Unfortunately the uploaded sample cuts off abruptly - you need to download the fuller version if you want to get it all.